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By Kim Bo-eun
Competition is heating up among startups and established companies in the IT sector to secure programmers, as demand skyrockets for such workers.
The firms are racing each other to attract talented workers, even those who are already employees of their rivals. Companies are on their toes as startups have joined the race, unveiling dramatic pay hikes.
Zigbang's CEO stated last week that the property search platform operator will offer developers a starting annual salary of 60 million won. The CEO said it would also raise the annual pay for developers at the company by 20 million won. In addition, Zigbang said it would provide a bonus of up to 100 million won to experienced developers that join.
This has raised eyebrows in the IT sector, given it exceeds the compensation level of many major IT firms. Zigbang has not been the top destination of developers seeking to beef up their resumes.
But this is forcing bigger companies to consider taking similar steps, since moving to different companies is a common practice among developers. Employers are feeling a greater need to do so, as millennials and Generation Z workers in their 20s and 30s are much more vocal and demanding when it comes to better pay.
Such demands were recently seen at a number of large firms such as SK hynix, SK Telecom and Naver. Employees have called for better compensation after the companies posted handsome profits last year.
In the case of SK hynix, demands for greater performance-based pay led to SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won stating he would return his salary for 2020, estimated at 3 billion won, to be allocated to executives and employees. SK hynix also decided to provide employees cash equivalents of 3 million won and shares through the employee stock ownership plan.
Naver founder Lee Hae-jin held talks with employees last week after the tech giant's union raised issues with the company's performance pay, in which he stated all employees would be given stock options.
Game companies are also in a rush to raise salaries for developers. Earlier this year, Nexon said it would offer a starting annual salary of 50 million won for developers and raise employees' annual salary by 8 million won. Netmarble also adopted the same pay raise for all employees. Krafton followed suit, stating it would raise the annual salary of developers by 20 million won.
Newer players in the tech sector have also joined the race. Daangn Market, a platform for trading used items, stated recently it would pay a minimum of 50 million won for developers and is also offering stock options. Woowa Brothers, which operates the country's top food delivery app Baedal Minjok, raised its annual salary for entry-level developers to 60 million won. Viva Republica, the operator of financial services platform Toss, is offering 1.5 times the annual pay of a new employee's previous workplace as well as 100 million won in stock options.
This has shifted attention to big players Naver, Kakao and game developer NCSOFT, which have not yet unveiled plans for a pay raise.
“Pay is definitely a big factor for considering a move. You would be surprised to learn that other benefits such as stock options also play a considerable role,” an official in the tech industry said.